Mets Overcome Leadoff Concerns to Win in Nine

Matt den Dekker robbing the Phillies’ Ryan Howard of a second-inning home run at the center-field wall in Citizens Bank Park.Credit
Drew Hallowell/Getty Images

PHILADELPHIA — The Mets had a handful of flaws at the start of the season. For one, they lacked a leadoff hitter. Eric Young Jr. had not established himself as an everyday player. And Juan Lagares was not exactly a true leadoff hitter.

But Manager Terry Collins made do. He relied mostly on a combination of Young and Lagares. Then Young went on the disabled list with a hamstring strain, and Monday, hours before the Mets beat the Phillies, 11-2, they announced that Lagares would go on the 15-day D.L. with a right intercostal muscle strain.

This series tested the Mets’ mental and physical fortitude. Because of a rainout earlier in the season, for the first time the Mets faced a team five times in five days in the same city.

It felt like a bizarre playoff series between the worst two teams in the National League East. They were tense, mostly close games, which is not to say they were of high quality. Three games dragged into extra innings. The Mets, to their credit, persevered, won four of five and improved their record to 28-29.

Lagares first tweaked his rib cage Friday night. He remained in the game and was expected to play Saturday, until he apparently aggravated the injury and was scratched just minutes before the game. He eventually entered the game late, laid down a sacrifice bunt and, afterward, indicated that he felt fine.

The Mets had Lagares tested in the training room Sunday morning and had him take practice swings. Collins said that there were “four sets of eyes on him, to see if he’s flinching, or if his swing’s changed,” and that Lagares looked fine.

Again, Lagares indicated he felt fit, but Collins urged him to tell the truth. “If it gets worse,” Collins told him, “it’s not two weeks, it could be four.”

Lagares started Sunday, but as the game went on, the discomfort returned. Eventually, Collins said, Lagares was uncomfortable standing in the outfield.

Lagares had missed about two weeks in April with a hamstring injury. And when he did play, he was an enigma. During any given game, he could get two hits, or two strikeouts. Some games, he was patient. Others, he swung freely. In 42 games, he batted .288, but Collins had come to trust him as a leadoff hitter.

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Asked when Lagares would be back, Collins shook his head and shrugged. Young was expected to test his injured hamstring and start running on Tuesday. But he is out at least another week.

So who would bat leadoff Monday? Collins was not sure.

He considered four candidates — Chris Young, Ruben Tejada, Matt den Dekker and Bobby Abreu — each with his own flaws.

Chris Young had struggled mightily in recent weeks, to the point of being heavily booed at Citi Field. His average had dropped to .202 and his on-base percentage to .288. Batting him leadoff would only put more pressure on him.

Tejada’s on-base percentage (.344) was the highest it had been since 2011, but he was batting .226 and had lost playing time to the young prospect Wilmer Flores.

Abreu seemed an intriguing option. Over the last week, he had perhaps been the Mets’ best hitter. In his last five starts, he batted 9 for 19, with four doubles and five runs batted in, and he was as patient as ever at the plate. But at 40, he could probably play only two or three games in a row.

Abreu started Monday in right field, batting fifth. He smacked a one-out double in the second inning and scored on a Lucas Duda double, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Collins decided to bat den Dekker leadoff. At some point since den Dekker was drafted in the fifth round in 2010, Lagares had leapfrogged him as a prospect. This was perhaps his best chance to earn consistent playing time.

He did his best Lagares impression, making a leaping catch to rob Ryan Howard of a second-inning home run. He also threw out Reid Brignac at home in the third and hit a leadoff single in the sixth, starting a rally that led to four runs. But he struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning, and finished 1 for 5.

The Mets scored six more runs in the ninth, capped by a Flores grand slam. It wasn’t necessary. Bartolo Colon pitched a gem, limiting the Phillies to two runs, on six hits in seven innings. He reminded the Mets that if their starting pitching were to keep going this well, it might not matter who bats leadoff.

A version of this article appears in print on June 3, 2014, on Page B12 of the New York edition with the headline: Mets Overcome Leadoff Concerns to Win in Nine. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe